Alta du Toit Centre for intellectually disabled adults
category
Disability
address
80 Lincoln St, Bellville, Cape Town, 7530, South Africa
We help intellectually disabled adults by caring and developing intellectually disabled adults.
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More about Alta du Toit Centre for intellectually disabled adults
Alta du Toit Aftercare centre, situated in Boston, Bellville is a safe haven where adults with intellectual disabilities can live and work. We cater for adults with intellectual disabilities in the following categories: Down Syndrome, Prader Willy Syndrome, Fetal Alchohol Syndrome, Autism, victims of motor vehicle accidents, oxygen deprivation at birth, slow developmental progress with low IQ. The centre serves communities in the Western Cape including persons from previously disadvantaged communities. It was opened in April 1978 in Boston Bellville with the aim to accommodate adults for “further care and development during their adult lives.” Currently the centre has 160 residential clients and 60 day-care clients. We provide physical and nursing care to these adults and they all take part in an established skills development programme to ensure optimal development throughout their adult lives, whilst living in the centre. We want each person to reach his/her full potential. Aside from the work groups, clients can also participate in sports and social activities such as athletics, bocci, singing and dancing. The centre is experiencing challenges in the day to day running such as: • Caring for people with intellectual disabilities is expensive, mainly due to the high staff / client ratio. • The buildings of the centre are old and require alot of ongoing maintenance. • 46 of the clients living in the centre do not have parents or families to pay the required monthly fees. The budget of the centre makes provision for a discount of R900 000 per annum due to the financial support that must be given to families who cannot afford to pay the full monthly fees. • There is also a large group of older clients that necessitates more staff and more specialized care. • All our clients receive disability pensions, but on average there is still a shortfall of R2500 per client per month to meet the unit costs and operating costs The current pandemic of the Covid-19 virus poses particular additional financial challenges to the Centre: • All fundraising projects for the year have been cancelled. This will result in a deficit on the current budget. • A number of parents have lost their income and can subsequently not pay the monthly fee, or only part thereof. • The purchase of protective gear & sanitizer was not included into the existing the budget & has a huge impact on the current budget. • The Center was forced to set up a Covid ward and isolation area for Covid cases and residents who had to isolate. This further increased the expenses of the Center for the year. This leaves the centre with challenges like never before & increases the pre-existing deficit from R900 000 to plus another R900 000. We need assistance during these challenging times.